IT was certainly a case of mixed fortunes for us over the Easter holiday period. We had a tremendous victory over Leeds last Thursday and then got a good thrashing at St Helens on Monday.

The Leeds game was real hard fought contest and was more than we had a right to expect given that we had played them in the semi final four days earlier. The game followed the pattern of the semi-final and we led 10-2 but significantly we got the next score and then scored straight after the break.

There were some great performances with Mike Forshaw leading the way. Mike was all over the place in defence and got that all-important first try for us.

It was a tough call at the end and we had to play the last ten minutes with Steve McNamara off the field and without Jed Donougher, which gave us one less sub than we should have had. It was a nasty clash of heads between those two and Steve had nine stitches and was brave to come back on.

All I can say is that it was a good job it was their heads that clashed or they could have been seriously injured! Jed was wandering round the dressing room blaming Steve's bad tackling technique!

We knew we didn't perform in the semi-final and we had an immediate opportunity to hit back and we took it.

Matt Elliott showed us the video of the first game and where we had gone wrong and I think we had the right game plan to beat them. Paul Anderson was awesome in the first-half and behind the pack Robbie and Henry did the business.

It really was too much to expect us to play again on Easter Monday and when you are tired, the last place you want to be is at St Helens. They have so much pace that if you are not on your game they will destroy you.

I think that the game has got it wrong with their fixture arrangements. It really is not on to play three games in eight days.

I know some former players will say that they played 45 or 50 games in a season but the game has become a high speed collision sport nowadays and your body needs the rest.

If we had to have 30 games then we should be starting earlier and not cramming games in at two week. It doesn't make for a good spectacle and I am sure that it was significant that Leeds had to play London, one of the other semi-finalists, on Monday.

By all accounts it wasn't such a good game and if Leeds had been travelling to Wigan or Saints, they could have been in trouble as well.

Having said that, we took the opportunity to play a couple of youngsters at Knowlsley Road.

Both Leon Pryce and Lee Radford made their full debuts and acquitted themselves well. They have big futures in the game and, although they were playing in difficult conditions, they gave a good account of themselves.

Going to St Helens on Monday gave me the chance to meet up with one of the all time great players and a good mate of mine Ellery Hanley.

It goes without saying that Ellery is the most professional player that I have ever played with.

When we were both at Leeds he taught me so much about how to look after myself and how to train correctly for the game.

He was great to play alongside, he never gave up and was an inspiration to everyone in the team. He is doing a great job at Saints and it was good to see him and Kevin Iro again.

I see Leeds United and Bradford City can't do anything but keep winning at the moment.

United have now won seven on the trot and play Liverpool on Monday looking for a record breaking eight straight wins.

I suppose that it couldn't have been any other team than Liverpool.

They have had so many battles over the years that it would be fitting if they could beat the record against the Reds.

That would be great for the club. David Batty should be back in action. He has had some bad luck with injuries; - he could have played at the Bulls last year.

I will say that City are doing really well and look certainties for promotion.

They seem to have got it right and if their training is anything to go by, they share our facilities at Rawdon Meadows, they have got a great team spirit and a great manager.

It would be good for the city of Bradford if they were to be promoted and we could lift the Championship Trophy.

It is back to playing again on Sunday when Wakefield are the visitors.

This will be our third meeting with the Wildcats this season and I am sure that it will be our toughest yet.

They have improved tremendously since that pre-season friendly and look like they will surprise a few sides. We had better watch out that it isn't us.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.